I am outraged that the U.S. House of Representatives has shut down our government. This country was founded on compromise. The very idea that a group of elected officials, especially ones who do not in any way resemble the average American, have abdicated their responsibility to govern is dismaying. They do not deserve to draw a salary until the government is working again. If I don’t work, I’m not paid. I suggest the same for the members of the House. Every penny this shutdown costs our government should come from their pockets.

Sheryl Wight, Salida

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

President Obama and the media are blaming the Republicans for the government shutdown, but is that really fair? One of the Republicans’ demands is that average Joes like you and me be given the same consideration for delaying or softening the effect of Obamacare that Obama has given his union buddies and big business. But the president would rather see the government shut down than do anything as outlandishly evenhanded and fair as that — especially when he can count on the mainstream media to go along with the charade. Is it the really the Republicans you should be mad at?

Douglas Fleecs, Greeley

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

I am appalled, outraged and embarrassed by the Tea Party Republicans’ shutdown of the U.S. government over their insistence on repealing the Affordable Care Act. They have done grave damage to the barely recovering economy in order to continue a fight they decisively lost in the 2012 presidential election. Due to Republican insistence, President Obama’s re-election was a referendum on so-called “Obamacare.” The electorate has spoken. The Tea Party Republicans’ continued snit over this loss is incomprehensible to the rational citizen. I shudder at the opinion of the world about these self-destructive shenanigans. In 2014, voters need to remember who caused this fiasco.

Antoinette Tadolini, Littleton

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

The Republicans offered a plan that would fund all government functions excluding Obamacare. It was the liberal left that warned of a shutdown if the Affordable Care Act was not accepted, and it was the liberal left that refused to negotiate. The conservatives asked for a one-year delay in the implementation of Obamacare so that the many shortcomings in the bill could be ironed out and corrected. The Democratic Senate and the president refused to accept any delays. How Americans would accept a bill that exceeds 2,000 pages, includes numerous exemptions, and which no one has fully read or understands is mind-boggling.

G.D. Swenson, Littleton

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

The GOP has been quite clear in its mission: deny President Obama any policy successes, at any cost. The Republicans have forced the country to suffer through the sequester, which has slowed economic growth significantly, hampered research and infrastructure development, and cut vital services. And now, after six months of refusing to negotiate a real budget with the Senate, Republicans in the House have shuttered the U.S. government, as a last-ditch effort to deny Americans the Affordable Care Act (endorsed by Americans when they re-elected Obama and other Democrats in 2012). When will sanity and reason return to the GOP?

James DeGregori, Denver

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

Most of us Americans, including me, have strong viewpoints about the political issues our nation faces. The current congressional stalemate, though, has evoked even stronger reactions among us, namely discouragement and fear. Although it is clear that our elected officials operate with a sense that the battles of the day are between conservatives and liberals, most of us see the situation differently. In our view, our country now has no one in charge. We fear that the nation doesn’t have a future if our leaders continue their childish brinksmanship and posturing.

Instead of laying blame on one party or the other, I think it would benefit us all to immediately write, call or e-mail our representatives and tell them that a logical, rational solution is better than mindless infighting that only follows the party line. After all, we elected all these folks to be our leadership. What good are they doing as followers?

Thomas M. Holzfaster, Lakewood

This letter was published online only.

I am a lifelong Democrat in full support of the Republican-led government shutdown.

Since 1976, our government has been shut down 17 times. The shutdowns range from one to 21 days. The reasons vary from congressional pay to abortion to deficits to nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, etc. Twelve of the shutdowns were on the watch of Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill (seven real shutdowns and five quasi-shutdowns like the current one.) Three of O’Neill’s shutdowns occurred in one year (1977).

We may differ about the merits of a shutdown, but most of us would agree that the shutdowns brought national attention to real problems that needed to be addressed. The fault of today’s shutdown is equally shared by both parties. We need leadership, not brinkmanship, to solve the problem.

The real crisis is not the shutdown but the looming debt ceiling just six weeks away.

Carl Miller, Leadville

This letter was published online only.

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Dick Monfort, left, owner of the Colorado Rockies and Dan O’Dowd, right, general manager, watch pregame festivities as the Rockies host the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field on April 13, 2012, in Denver. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

I was disheartened to learn that there will apparently be another year of Dan O’Dowd remaining as the general manager of the Rockies. This means another year that I will not be attending a Rockies game. How many years of last-place finishes will it take to get the snake-oil salesman out of town?

Richard Propper, Greenwood Village

This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.

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Aaron Alexis, the gunman in the Sept. 16 shooting rampage at at the Washington Navy Yard that killed 12, is seen in this undated cellphone photo. (AP Photo/Kristi Kinard Suthamtewakul, File)

Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis’ story is sadly familiar — a man with untreated mental illness who was ignored in spite of all the warning signs.

Why didn’t the police take him to a crisis center or hospital when he called about hearing voices and threats emanating from a microwave? Could it have been any more obvious that he needed treatment? And when he went to the Veterans Affairs hospital asking for help? How could the severity of his condition go unrecognized or minimized by professionals who should know better?

We know the stories — James Holmes in Aurora, Adam Lanza in Newtown, Jared Loughner in Tucson, so many others. When will we have the wisdom to fund mental health care instead of continuing to cut it and to treat those with mental illness instead of leaving them to flounder? When will we find the courage to do what’s not only right but smart? How many more tragedies will it take?

Kathy Brandt, Woodland Park

This letter was published online only.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow DPLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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